By Ashutosh Misra
A March 12 U.S. drone strike in Waziristan killed 15 militants, including two senior commanders of the Maulvi Nazir faction of the Tehrik-i-Taliban. This was the ninth drone strike this year that we know about, and many more such strikes are expected in the coming weeks and months.
On March 20, the all-party parliamentary committee in Pakistan called for an end to U.S. drone attacks as well as to “hot pursuit or boots on Pakistani territory,” declaring them a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. The committee has also rejected the U.S. offer of providing advance notice for drone attacks and limiting the types of likely targets. Indeed, the idea of advance notice appears to be a desperate attempt by the U.S. to avoid a total stoppage of its drone operations; hitherto, it has been highly secretive about its drone operations in order to prevent any last minute tip off to the militants by elements in the Pakistani intelligence establishment.
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